1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to browsing electronic content. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods, systems, and computer program products for browsing content that includes interactive elements using a computerized system with a display area and input system that may be somewhat limited in comparison to the pointing devices and displays typically found in more traditional browsing systems.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Content typically includes interactive elements, such as links and form controls. Activating or following a link causes the content that is associated with the link to be requested and displayed. Selecting a form control allows for interaction with the form control. Traditional browsing systems generally include a keyboard and a pointing device such as a mouse, for activating links and interacting with form controls. Tab order navigation is possible, but may not follow an order expected by the user, especially if scrolling is required to view all of the content.
In traditional browsing systems, a user activates a link or selects a form control by simply placing a mouse pointer over the interactive element and pressing a mouse button. With each mouse press, a user may follow a link, select a text field so that text may be entered from a keyboard, toggle a radio button or checkbox, choose one or more items from a list, or cause the action associated with a button to be executed. The mouse also is used in scrolling the display area, as necessary. Nevertheless, content often is authored to minimize scrolling the display of traditional browsing systems, particularly in the horizontal direction.
Browsing systems with limited input systems and display areas, however, such as a phone having a numeric keypad, a directional control, and an action key, may make it difficult to select and interact with content designed for more traditional browsing systems that make use of pointing devices and have larger display areas. For example, without a pointing device, how are links activated and how are form controls selected? The direction control is a natural choice for scrolling because this operation is similar to many traditional browsing systems. (When no interactive element is selected, arrow keys usually are used for scrolling.) But, without a mouse, selecting individual interactive elements presents a significant challenge.
Tab order navigation does not provide an adequate solution because tab order generally follows the order of interactive elements in the content as authored or written, rather than the order of interactive elements in the content as displayed. Thus, in some situations, tab order moves horizontally, and in other situations, tab order moves vertically. For example, content that includes a table often will have a vertical tab order within individual table cells, but a horizontal tab order from cell to cell. Content outside of a table usually has a horizontal tab order. Because users generally are unaware of whether content includes a table or not, tab order may appear completely arbitrary, moving horizontally one time and vertically the next.
Therefore, when browsing content that includes interactive elements, methods, systems, and computer program products are needed for computerized systems that may have limited display areas and input systems, as compared to the pointing devices and displays typically found in more traditional browsing systems. Furthermore, certain interactive elements may be more intuitive in a browsing context, if those interactive elements operate somewhat differently from how they might function in an operating system shell environment.